Spot The Repro Parts On This '73 4001

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:04 pm

Okay, we have a winner: STEVE!

Hold on, I'll be right here.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:19 pm

Now, just for the fun of it, what exactly gives those parts away as being non-Rick parts?

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:00 pm

Steve didn't even mention the tailpiece in addition to the bridge, switch knob, pickguard and pickup surround. That's the most obvious part due to the holes where the strings go through.

dluxe · Post by **dluxe** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:33 pm

The pickguard should not have holes for the finger rest. The bridge was mentioned above. I guess the switch tip should be black? Not certain how you can tell about the rear pickup surround.

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:37 pm

Not only on the Rick, but the grill cloth is not original to the amp!

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:54 pm

Steve referred to the bridge/tailpiece assembly simply as "bridge".

"The pickguard should not have holes for a finger rest". That and both the wrong shape of its "left" shoulder and the incorrectly-sized neck pickup opening give it away as fake.
The oval-shaped tailpiece string holes are a dead giveaway, yes.
Right, the plastic switch cap should be black.
As for the treble pu surround, take a good look at it: on a legit Rick surround, the holding screws on the front (narrow) flange are not as spaced apart as those on the rear (wide) flange. Right, RIC?

Steve, I'll ship the pickup in a few days' time.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:59 pm

P.S. Jeffrey, sorry, but said amp & grill cloth do not qualify as Rickenbacker products...

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 2:30 pm

seabass · Post by **seabass** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:49 pm

Jim Glen pointed out the black nut. I think he's right because the '72's and early '73's that I have seen had a white nut. No?

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:28 pm

I got 3 out of 4, so I'm happy !!!

The tailpiece should have still been split and it's not !

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:59 pm

Thank you Sergio, your posts and faker-spotting wisdom have taught me well

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:45 pm

You're welcome, Steve.

Dave, you may be right about the white nut.

bob_atherton · Post by **bob_atherton** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:04 am

Jim, I thought the split tailpiece went out in late '72 ?

Even with all these repro parts it's still a very nice bass IMHO.

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:15 am

Most small inlay 73's, checkered or not, had the non-split tailpiece. And for what it's worth, my May 73 with small inlays has a black nut and it appears to be original. My other two earlier 73's have white nuts...

.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 am

Obviously, the first 4001 appointments to go out - in April/May 1973 - were the split tailpiece and the full-width fretboard inlays. Later that year, the block binding was discontinued together with the toaster pickup. One thing I'm not sure though is whether the "2nd version" (= "button top") treble high-gain pickup replaced the "1st version" (= "screw top") on the 4001 model prior to the toaster being replaced by a high-gain as well.